First Week

     Hello readers. My name is Natalie and I am a dedicated dancer, student, friend, reader, and more. I am currently studying for my Bat Mitzvah, which just adds more to the "to-do" list. I dance 4 days a week (sometimes more), 9.5 hours a week (and sometimes more) at the Elite Dance and Performing Arts Center. This doesn't include competitions, which start in February, not to mention special performances and rehearsals. I go to school just like most kids do, 5 days a week, 7 hours a day. And I do the daily homework. It takes a lot of work, but I do my best to get all of my work done. So far I am a straight-A student. But keeping the balance isn't easy, especially when on some nights I have dance from 4:30-9:00. This means I get home around 9:30, have to eat, shower, and then finish my homework (and maybe watch a little Once Upon A Time, Dance Moms, or The Big Bang Theory). Oh, and my parents are divorced and going back and forth adds a bit of time as well. So that's a little bit about me, and now I can get started with the interesting part.

     Besides being able to do what I love, I think the best part of dance is being able to spend time with the girls on my team. Despite the usual "dance girls" stereotypes or cattiness, back-stabbing, and competitiveness, everyone on my team is incredibly supportive and enthusiastic. We are not just friends, we are family. There's no jealousy, cliques, or crazy parents. So you can guess how excited I was to see them again.
   
     Last week was the first week back at dance. And let me tell you, the teachers did NOT go easy on us. It was right back to business. Monday was no dance because of Labor Day. So we didn't get started until Tuesday; we were all in for a rude awakening. The first class was hip-hop which was... interesting to say the least. See, I'm more of a ballet/contemporary dancer and hip-hop is a little bit out of my comfort zone. So we'll see how that goes. Then Ballet Technique III. This class, being the first one was a bit of a refresher so nothing too challenging. This class ends at 7:30, so going home and finishing homework was not that big of a deal. And going to my mom's house afterwards didn't cause any problems either.
     
     Wednesday brought some pain and difficulties. The first class was Turns and Progressions III. The class works on the leaps, the turns, and transitions. The teacher, Chasen, is a professional dancer so there's no going easy. We jumped right into class with all the regular, painful warm-ups and challenging leaps. That was not extremely fun. Then my first tap class since I was five years old. I realized that tap is fun and hard at the same time. Then I had an hour break. I went home, ate, did homework, and then went back to the studio for my Pointe class with a new teacher. My old Pointe shoes were too small, as were everyone else's. So the class turned into a regular ballet class. It's too early to tell whether I like the new teacher or not. That class ends at 9:00, so I had to go home, finish eating, take a shower, finish homework, and go to bed. The next was not going to be that much easier.
   
     Thursday is both of my competition classes. First is Acrobatics. I am not that good at acrobatics. At all. But I got on the team, don't ask me how. My teacher, Steven who I LOVE, is a choreographer for Cirque du Soleil and lives in Las Vegas. He is in Los Angeles three days a week and Las Vegas the other four. I figure he must love us a lot to come all the way into L.A. just three days a week. No going easy with him either. That was very hard and I woke up the next morning with a LOT of "good" pain. Wish me good luck for the rest of the year. I had a two hour break in between this and the next class. Homework and eating, again. I went back for my final class of the week, my Teen Company class. We started a new competition dance and I absolutely love it. (It's "California Dreamin'" version by Sia; go look it up). So I went home, finished homework, studied for my three tests the next day, and went to bed.
   
     The next day was a little bit out of the ordinary. I had no dance, but I went to the studio and watched my sister dance. And then got fit for my new Pointe shoes. They're pretty and pink now but in a couple of months, they will be worn and dirty. All the younger girls who were getting their Pointe shoes for the first time, including my sister, were very excited to look like a Prima Ballerina. I was smiling, remembering being as excited, if not more, then some of them three years ago. It was a nostalgic moment for me and made me look back and reflect a little bit. It was one of those moments in a dancer's life that they remember forever.
   
     That was about it for this week. Not much, but believe me, it was good to be back.